Ripped - Cassia Leo Page 0,7

few minutes past six p.m. Just the sight of their house makes me miss our old beach house. We just moved into the new house in Wilmington a few weeks ago and we already have a construction crew working on an addition, tracking dirt all over the paper-lined wood floors. It doesn’t feel like a home yet, but it will eventually. This summer is either gonna kill me or make me crazier than Miley Fucking Cyrus. I’ll be riding my board naked at the final in Oahu this December—if I can hold my CT ranking until then.

The girls are outside with their grandma, blowing bubbles with the giant bubbler. Their angelic faces are full of unadulterated joy as Lindsay’s stepdad, Michael, spins around on the lawn, his arm stretched out as he holds the bubble wand, leaving huge iridescent orbs in his wake. Lindsay hated Michael when she was in high school and college. I think it was because, in her mind, no one could ever compare to her father, Jacob Harris, who died of leukemia when Lindsay was eight. But Michael has shaped up to be a very good grandfather to Kaia and Mila. And in the process, he’s won over Lindsay as well.

Lillian, on the other hand, is a whole different story. She still gets on Lindsay occasionally about working out and watching what she eats. Lindsay has never had a weight problem. In fact, she was anorexic before we met in college. But that doesn’t stop Lillian from reminding her she needs to count her calories or she’ll end up a fat, divorced old woman. I don’t give a fuck if Lindsay gains a hundred pounds. That girl would still have to fight me and my third leg off her every night.

Lillian’s blonde shoulder-length hair bounces as she scurries across the lawn to meet us in the driveway. “So what is it?” she shrieks as she rounds the front of the truck toward Lindsay. “Is it a girl or a boy?”

Lindsay glances at me before she turns to her mom. “We don’t know. We’re gonna wait until the next ultrasound… to be extra sure before we start going crazy buying stuff because… We’re having twins!”

Lillian’s eyes widen as she claps her hands over her mouth. “Twins?” she says in a soft whimper as she begins to tear up. “I’m going to have two more grandchildren?”

Lindsay nods and smiles as she wipes away tears of her own. “We’re having twins,” she replies, her voice a hoarse whisper.

They hug for a moment, then Lillian lets go of her suddenly and looks down at her belly. “You’re going to get so big.”

Lindsay sighs and walks away without a response.

“I didn’t mean it like that,” Lillian says as she follows Lindsay around the truck toward me.

I fold my arms around her shoulders and kiss her forehead as I pull her close to me. “I hope she gets morbidly obese, Lillian. Then she’ll never leave me.”

Lillian waves off my comment. “Oh, please. I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”

I take Lindsay’s face in my hands, looking her in the eye as I whisper, “Come on. Let’s get the girls and get the fuck out of here so I can watch you fuck yourself with a vibrator while I shout, ‘Whale on the shore! Whale on the shore!’”

She shakes her head as she pushes me away. “You’re such a jerk.”

I catch up to her so I can plant a loud kiss on her cheek. “And that’s why you love me.”

“Daddy!” Kaia squeals when she sees us. “Look how big this bubble is. Hold on. Let me show. It’s so big.”

The light bounces off her light-blonde curls, which she inherited from her biological father. She twirls around on the grass, her laughter as bubbly as the spheres she’s creating. I instantly feel at ease. Like all the question marks in my future are just that, question marks. They’re not periods. Just because I’m retiring doesn’t mean I can’t still surf, or teach my kids to surf. And just because we’re having two kids instead of one, while I’m training for the competition of my life, it doesn’t mean I have to stress. Everything will happen exactly the way it’s supposed to happen.

If I win, I win. If I lose… Fuck. I can’t allow myself to even consider that possibility. I’m going out on top. If that means I have to train longer hours for the next three and a half months, Lindsay will